I have to admit that I was never a big fan of Superboy (and here I mean Clark Kent's adventures as a teenager). It all seemed a bit thin compared to the adventures of the adult version. But right around the time this issue was released (it's cover dated January - February 1974), it became a "must-buy" comic. That's because the Boy of Steel started sharing his adventures - and the title of the comic - with the Legion of Super-Heroes.
That team from the future had starred in Adventure Comics for years, but by the early '70s the team had been limited to some occasional back-up stories.
After a few appearances in Superboy, the team expanded to take over the whole comic (they were nice enough to allow Superboy to continue appearing in the adventures).
The comic was boosted by some good stories by Cary Bates and the outstanding art of Dave Cockrum, who soon jumped over to Marvel and helped co-create a little book starring the new X-Men.
His work was an amazing blast of fresh air at DC, which was still focused on traditional comic art and stories (with occasional exceptions, such as work by Neal Adams and Bernie Wrightson).
Cockrum redesigned almost every Legionnaire's costume (a monstrous task, but badly needed), updated the look of the series, and with Bates he added new characters and gave the book a fresh approach.
This issue is a good example: for the 200th issue of Superboy, the Legion celebrated the wedding of Bouncing Boy and Duo Damsel, and found themselves in the fight of their lives against classic villain Starfinger.
The story's a bit silly in places, but it was a solid leap forward for one of DC's middle-of-the-road titles, and reignited interest in DC's team from the 30th Century.
Cockrum's run wasn't long, but it brought me back to the DC fold after too many years of being largely absent. Of course, it didn't hurt that he was followed on the comic by Mike Grell and one of the all-time best Legion writers - Jim Shooter. But that's a story of another "Classic Comic" column.
Grade: B+
7 comments:
Issue 209 was when it became a must-have for me. I guess I was just a little bit behind the curve.
Cockrum's run on Superboy and LSH has left a deep impression on me to this day. The LSH is still one of my favorite teams/titles/whatever. You didn't mention it, so I'm not sure, but is this the issue with the big (2 page?) picture of the wedding, with all the Legionnaires in attendance. I'm going by memory, but I believe such a picture was part of this story. Thanks for the memories.
Ray, I don't even remember why I started picking it up at that point - I hadn't been buying Superboy at all. Maybe it was seeing the Legion on the cover, because I always enjoyed their adventures. Or maybe it was just luck.
Dwayne, I had the same thought, but the issue only has a single (sideways) splash page with every Legion character included. I suspect we were both thinking of the Treasury-sized Legion story with the wedding of Lightning Lad and Saturn Girl. Or was it another wedding? And did Cockrum draw it, or was it Mike Grell - or someone else? I'll have to dig it out and check - I'm pretty sure I have a copy buried somewhere in the archives.
Hey Guys! In the Treasury they do a giant two page reprint of the Duo Damsel and Bouncing Boy wedding (with nice handy guide to the characters appearing on the back cover). :)
My favorite version of the Legion is the post-Zero Hour version. That was when I first started reading them... I've picked up scores of back issues and several archives since and like them all, but they remain my favorite.
Kyle, thanks for solving the mystery! The cover of issue #200 promotes the splash page, so I was confused when I saw it printed as a single page turned on its side - I thought, "I remember this as a two-page spread." I thought I was cracking up.
My favorite Legion version has to be the Bates / Shooter / Cockrum / Grell version (although the original Silver Age version is a sentimental favorite).
One more thing... one of my favorite ALL TIME single issues of any comic has to be the Fatal Five Who Twisted Time, issue 198. I remember reading it and re-reading it on a car trip from Orange County, California to Sacramento. It really stuck with me.
Dwayne, that reminds me - it's been a while since I made this offer, so I should repeat it: if anyone has a favorite issue and would like to write a review of their own, feel free to send it along and I'll be glad to print it here. There's no money in it, unfortunately, but hey - I'm not getting paid, either! (Hmm - why am I doing this again?)
You can send such things to chuckscomicoftheday@gmail.com. Thanks!
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